A report submitted to council by Kincardine CAO Alan Smith pointed out some of the issues with the province’s new plan for data centres, which was released back on October 13.
Smith says the municipality has so far received inquiries regarding the topic of data centre development, as it has from other sectors, particularly focused on what it as like as a host community for major energy infrastructure.
“The provincial government recognizes that hyper-skilled data centres are reaching out to municipalities across Ontario. Therefore, the province is in the process of developing a framework, that will guide this type of development in Ontario,” he said.
The Provincial Data Centre Playbook, proposing an evidence-based approach to evaluating regulated data centre projects, over one megawatt, seeking connection to Ontario’s electricity grid.
Smith explained to council what staff felt was missing from the framework.
“The report before council tonight has 13 recommendations for council’s consideration, that would be forwarded to the Environmental Registry of Ontario, ranging from stronger requirements for municipal consultation, community benefits, municipal cost recovery, workforce impact assessment, emergency planning and response, environmental performance, community benefit benchmarking, and transparency – because it’s pretty weak on that.”
The provincial government is looking for public input on the playbook until September 12th.
The 13 recommendations will also be forwarded to Bruce County, to help bolster its own submission.
The Playbook builds on authorities established through the Protect Ontario by Securing Affordable Energy for Generations Act (Bill 40), which gave the provincial government new authority to determine which prescribed large-load facilities, including data centres, can connect to Ontario’s electricity grid.
Kincardine council approved the recommendations provided by municipal staff.
“I do want to stress that the intent of this report has been to provide comments about the Provincial Data Centre Playbook, and is not intended to establish a municipal position in support of, or in opposition to data centre development within the Municipality of Kincardine,” explained Smith. “Rather, it is intended to provide recommendations to the province that may strengthen the final framework for evaluating and managing this form of development. A strong provincial framework will assist the municipality, as we look at our own internal controls on development, like our official plan for example.”
A final version of the Province’s Data Centre Playbook is expected to be released at the end of this fall.